Nichelle Nichols Biography

Fast Facts

• Quote: "(On her biggest influence, her father, who educated her about stars and planets) "for the simple reason that he never treated me like a child [he] always took me seriously․""
• She is best known for portraying Lieutenant Uhura on the iconic TV series "Star Trek․"
• She credits Dr․ Martin Luther King with pursuading her to stay on Star Trek after she voiced a desire to pursue a career on Broadway
• As Uhura on Star Trek, she portrayed the first high-ranking African-American, female official on TV, and also shared TV's first interracial kiss
• She is credited for naming her Star Trek character, Uhura, from a play on the Swahili word for freedom, "uhuru․"
• After Star Trek ended, she worked with NASA to help recruit minorities and females to the space agency